The activity took place at the 61st Wing in Lecce, which currently hosts the International Flight Training School (IFTS).
Thursday 16 June, Japanese pilots training at the 61st Wing In Galatina, they went on their first flight with the aircraft T-346A. Upon arriving at Salento airport in January, they attended the “ground school”at the 212th Flying Group, on a path that has gradually led them to also carry out missions on Partial Task Trainer (PTT) and on Full Mission Simulator (FMS), the latest generation simulators integrated into the training system connected to the T-346A aircraft.
The activity with the Japanese Air Force cadets is part of the project of the’International Flight Training School. The IFTS project, born in 2018 from the’Agreement between the Air Force and Leonardo with the aim of realising a centre of international excellence in military pilot training and meet the growing demand for Training Advanced support from allied states and partners has indeed made it possible to double the current training offer by creating a new hub distributed between the Galatina Air Force Base, where the Air Force will continue to carry out basic training activities, and that of Decimomannu, in Sardinia, where the new Campus dedicated to the advanced phase of pilot training.
The initiative, which represents a virtuous example of synergy between public and private institutions for the benefit of the entire country-system, is characterised by pooling two national excellences by leveraging on’expertise and the tradition of the Blue Force in military flight training – achieved over more than 75 years of experience at the Galatina flight school – and on the technological excellence of Leonardo – the largest Italian industrial reality in aerospace, defence and security.
IFTS courses, aimed at pilots destined for employment on latest-generation fighter aircraft (such as the’Eurofighter or the F-35), are held by instructor pilots, both military and civilian, and are based on the advanced T-346 ITS integrated training systemIntegrated Training System) centred on Leonardo's M-346 aircraft, codenamed T-346A from the Italian Air Force.
The 61st Wing, dependent on Air Force Schools Command / 3rd Air Region, is an advanced, multinational, modern and effective training reality, with decades of experience in the field of “Flight training”and possesses absolutely cutting-edge technological systems. In particular, the school is tasked with providing jet aircraft flight training: phase II – Primary Pilot Training, common to all military pilot trainees, aimed at identifying the lines on which they will flyFighters, remote piloting, helicopters, conventional aircraft); of phase III – Specialised Pilot Training, exclusively for student pilots selected for the “Fighter”and“Remotely Piloted Aircraft”which concludes with obtaining the military pilot's patent (winged eagle); phase IV – Lead-in to Fighter Training – LIFT, preparatory training for subsequent use on latest-generation fighter aircraft.
